Raila shot himself in the foot by threatening the Judiciary
Over the weekend Raila Odinga and his NASA counterparts were in Nakuru to drum up support for NASA. As it was later revealed, the main reason NASA organised the rally was to issue threats of boycotting the forthcoming general elections if the court of appeal does not uphold the high court ruling regarding the announcement of the presidential results.
In early April, the high court ruled that the presidential results declared at the constituency level will be final, meaning that once the constituency returning officer has tallied and announced the presidential results at his/her particular constituency, that result cannot be changed at the national tallying centre. The work of the national tallying center would therefore be to add up all the presidential results announced at the constituency level to thereafter announce the total national results obtained by all presidential contenders.
Sounds logical.
However, the IEBC has since appealed the high court ruling at the court of appeal, arguing that if the constituency returning officer has the final say on presidential results, then the ruling changes the law to declare the constituency returning officer as the returning officer for the presidential elections. The constitution on the other hand provides that the returning officer for the presidential elections is non other than the chairman of the IEBC, in this case Mr. Wafula Chebukati.
The decision by IEBC to challenge the high court ruling caused jitters among NASA principals and supporters, with the feeling that if the court of appeal overturns the high court ruling, then this will set precedent for the rigging of presidential elections.
This jittery was taken to the Nakuru rally where, led by Raila Odinga who was recently declared the NASA flag bearer, speaker after speaker threatened that if the court of appeal overrules the high court then there will be no general elections in August.
The public opinion expressed by NASA in regards to the ongoing case at the court of appeal has effectively meant that they have shot themselves in the foot. This is because, as stated by the Chief Justice David Maraga, the courts of law would rather appear independent of any political interference. Given that publicly Jubilee Party has appeared neutral on the matter, with their Secretary General Rafael Tuju saying that they will respect whatever decision the court of appeal arrives at, the only party that now seems to have influence on what direction the court of appeal will take is the NASA coalition. Thus, for the court of appeal to appear independent, it is likely they’ll overrule the high court ruling.
The point is, don’t be surprised if the court of appeal rules in favor of IEBC, and if that happens, Raila and his NASA counterparts will have themselves to blame.
